Dr Andrew Shaw

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr Andrew Shaw is a Research Fellow within Archaeology at the University of Southampton.

My interest in Palaeolithic archaeology and Quaternary science stems from my undergraduate studies at the University of Durham and subsequent MA in the Archaeology of Human Origins at the University of Southampton. This led to my PhD on the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic of Syria carried out at the University of Durham. Subsequently, I worked at the British Museum cataloguing their Near Eastern Palaeolithic and epi-Palaeolithic collections prior to been awarded an Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship to study the late Lower and early Middle Palaeolithic in Lebanon and Syria at the University of Southampton. I am currently employed as research fellow working on the AHRC funded ‘Crossing the Threshold' project which is seeking to understand the evolutionary significance of the appearance of the repeated use of place by humans during the Middle Pleistocene. I have been involved in research projects focussed on the UK, northern continental Europe, Syria and Lebanon. Additionally, I have also been engaged in Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Pleistocene geoarchaeological consultancy works in the UK.

Research

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Research interests

My primary research interest is the reconstruction of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic technological decision making and human behaviour in relation to the varying landscapes and environmental contexts of the late Middle and Upper Pleistocene. In order to investigate this I utilize technological, taphonomic and geoarchaeological approaches to the archaeology of our early human ancestors. The specific focus of my research is the Palaeolithic record of northern Europe and the Near East between 300,000 and 40,000 years ago, a time which saw the appearance and development of the Neanderthals and their associated complex and changing behavioural repertoires. I am currently employed as a Research Fellow on the AHRC funded ‘Crossing the Threshold' project. This research is seeking to understand the evolutionary significance of the appearance of repeated use of place by humans during the Middle Pleistocene and to investigate whether this reflects the origins of the cultural construction of the modern human evolutionary niche.

Additionally, my research into deep human antiquity has led to an interest in the history of Palaeolithic archaeology and Quaternary science. In particular, I am interested in the fascinating (and frequently eccentric!) individuals and the historical research paradigms that have shaped many of the datasets and interpretations we use today.